AMZN vs NYT: How Amazon and The New York Times Company Compare (2026)

Same yardstick, side by side (as of August 2026). Valuation lined up like this is most meaningful for two names in the same corner of the market, which these are. Figures are approximate; verify before investing.

Reading it: NYT is the cheaper of the two on forward earnings, but cheaper is not the same as better. Pair the valuation with growth (how far the forward P/E sits below the trailing P/E) and risk (beta) before you decide.

The metrics above tell you which is the marginally better business. The bigger risk for most people is not picking the slightly worse stock, it is over-concentrating. AMZN and NYT share themes, so owning both, or adding either to what you already hold, can quietly push a large share of your portfolio into one bet.

This is the part a generic comparison page cannot answer, because it depends on what you own. Connect your brokerage and Walnut shows your real, combined AMZN and NYT exposure, flags overlap with your existing positions, and tells you if adding one would tip you past a concentration you are comfortable with, read-only by default, with your login staying at your broker. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

Amazon is one of the largest companies in the world, operating across three major business lines. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the dominant global cloud computing provider, generating around $110 billion in annual revenue and most of the company's operating income. The North America and International e-commerce segments include the Amazon online marketplace, Prime membership, and third-party seller services. Advertising has grown into the third-largest digital ad business in the world (after Google and Meta).

Full AMZN guide

The New York Times Company publishes The New York Times and operates a family of subscription products around it: the core news report, Games (Wordle, Connections, the Crossword), NYT Cooking, the sports site The Athletic, the product-recommendation site Wirecutter, and a growing audio and video slate. Almost all of the money comes from consumers rather than distributors: subscription revenue was about $481 million of the roughly $763 million the company took in during the quarter ended June 30, 2026, with digital-only subscriptions alone at about $408 million. Advertising (about $134 million in the quarter, now majority digital) and affiliate, licensing and other revenue (about $76 million, including Wirecutter referral fees and AI content licensing) fill in the rest. Print still exists and still declines, but it is a shrinking tail on a digital business.

Full NYT guide

Both fit overlapping themes, but they are not interchangeable. The useful comparison is which set of drivers and risks you want exposure to.

• AMZN drivers: AWS as the AI infrastructure backbone; Retail margin expansion.
• NYT drivers: The bundle and subscriber compounding; Digital advertising built on first-party data.

A faster-growing, richer-valued name usually swings harder, so it suits a longer horizon and a higher tolerance for volatility; a steadier, more cash-generative business suits a more conservative or income-minded investor. The honest test is which set of risks you could hold through a drawdown: Hyperscaler AI capex is concentrated; if model training demand cools, AWS growth slows. For NYT, the most immediate risk is cost discipline: adjusted operating costs rose about 10% year over year in the June 2026 quarter against guidance of 8% to 9%, and free cash flow margin dropped to roughly 1.3% from 15.1%, which is what actually triggered the roughly 15% single-day fall in early August 2026.

Growth-minded investors who believe the theme has years to run tend to accept the richer multiple for more upside; value-minded investors lean toward the cheaper forward earnings and steadier profile. Pick AMZN if you believe its drivers more; NYT if you believe its. Many investors hold both, but since they share themes, that is a concentrated bet, not diversification. Decide deliberately and check overlap. For the full detail, see the AMZN and NYT guides.

AMZN. Amazon's headline P/E reflects the aggregate of low-margin retail and high-margin AWS/advertising. The valuation premium is paid for AWS specifically; retail is essentially valued near cost. P/E of 40x is elevated versus the S&P 500 average (~22x), supported by AWS growth re-accelerating.

NYT. Figures are approximate and tied to August 2026; check live data before acting on any of them. At roughly $63.80 the stock carries a trailing price-to-earnings ratio in the high twenties on ~$382 million of trailing net income, which is a growth multiple applied to a business the market now expects to grow revenue closer to 7% than 11%. The clearest way to read the valuation is as a bet on whether the reinvestment cycle in video, audio and AI distribution converts back into free cash flow, because the June 2026 quarter showed margin expansion at the adjusted-operating line and a collapse at the cash-flow line at the same time.

Headline figures (approximate, early 2026): AMZN shows revenue (ttm) ~$650 billion, operating margin ~10% (AWS materially higher; retail much lower), net income (ttm) ~$60 billion, eps (ttm) ~$5.50; NYT shows revenue (ttm) ~$2.90 billion, with the June 2026 quarter at ~$762.5 million, up ~11.2% year over year, net income (ttm) ~$382 million; June 2026 quarter adjusted EPS ~$0.69 versus ~$0.58 a year earlier, subscribers ~12.8 million digital-only (~13.35 million total) after ~280,000 net digital adds; digital ARPU ~$9.94, profitability Adjusted operating profit margin ~20.4% in the June 2026 quarter, up ~90 basis points; full-year 2025 adjusted operating profit ~$550 million.

AMZN and NYT are related but distinct: same themes, different businesses and risks. Neither wins in the abstract; the right pick is whichever thesis you actually believe, sized so you are not over-concentrated in one theme. Walnut can show your combined AMZN and NYT exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.